By Musa Bakare.
History does not crown giants with applause; it confirms them through results. Lee Kuan Yew transformed Singapore from fragility into global relevance through discipline, courage, and hard reforms. In Nigeria’s turbulent political terrain, a similar reformist spirit finds expression in Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Different worlds, same creed: progress demands tough choices. Like Lee, Asiwaju Tinubu is a system builder, not a crowd pleaser. As Governor of Lagos State, he confronted chaos with clarity, reforming taxation, strengthening institutions, and redefining governance. Lagos today is sustained not by oil, but by ideas, systems, and continuity. It is Tinubu’s proof of concept.
Lee Kuan Yew built institutions that outlived him. Tinubu is doing the same. He is empowering technocrats, nurturing successors, and embedding governance capacity as President of Nigeria. Lagos state under him became a model of fiscal discipline, public, private partnership, and administrative continuity, competence over convenience, structure over sentiment.
Reformers are always misunderstood in their time. Lee was accused of being harsh; history vindicated him. Tinubu faces similar resistance today as he dismantles subsidy distortions, forex inefficiencies, and fiscal leakages. These reforms hurt, but illusions cost more. Sustainability, not applause, is the mark of serious leadership.
Asiwaju Tinubu also understands political realism. In a plural society, coalition building is strength, not weakness. His long standing commitment to balance, inclusion, and strategic compromise reflects a deep grasp of Nigeria’s complexity. Where others see paralysis, he engineers movement.
Economic transformation requires governance reform. Singapore rose on order, credibility, and long term planning. Tinubu’s agenda speaks the same language: productivity, investment, institutional strength, and national credibility. These are generational reforms, not soundbites.
Leadership is about telling people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. Tinubu’s reforms echo that truth. Nation building is not romance, it is grind.
Nigeria needs continuity, not retreat. Reformers must be allowed to finish what they start. In vision, courage, and system-building, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu stands as Nigeria’s Lee Kuan Yew.
History will judge, nations are built by leaders who take the hard road and stay the course, Nigeria must not allow the derailment of the laudable reforms.
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu till 2031
– Musa Asiru Bakare, a Political Analyst, writes from Lokoja, Kogi State.
